The agency says it has managed to make significant cuts in processing times: An average wait of more than 500 days three years ago had dropped to 353 this June, it says.
But national averages don't tell the whole story. How long an applicant waits varies widely by location — and even by judge, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonprofit think tank at Syracuse University.
Average processing time ranges from 161 days in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and 168 days in Shreveport, La., to 509 days in Springfield, Mo., and 544 days in Cleveland, Ohio, researchers at the clearinghouse found.